Heart Of The Ice Dragon
by Rage of The Hero
Summary: Zero encounters a very depressed Leviathan. She's been doing some reflecting, and has a not-at-all-surprising confession... Rated M for Leviathan speaking in explicit terms.


So, here it is, my first submission, and already I'm approaching R-Rated.

This little tale is my take on the nature of the feelings the Blue Lord obviously has for our favorite Beam Saber-wielding, blonde-ponytail wearing death-magnet.

Takes place between Zero 3 and Zero 4.

I tried not to go too overboard (Okay, so that's a blatant lie).

But in my defense, I did try to define Leviathan's personality a bit more, beyond just being a flirty female version Fafnir.

Read, Review, Enjoy.

**Leviathan and Zero (c) Capcom **

* * *

"Nothing…" 

Zero shook his head as he explored the frigid, decrepit ship's innards.

"Every damn computers' dead…" he muttered, trying to reboot another console. Finally, exasperated, and realizing that there was no information here, Zero turned and began walking back toward the exit. He could have been transferred here directly from the base, but he knew any transfers here would be red-flagged by Neo Arcadia, and the last thing he needed was Fafnir or Leviathan showing up to ruin his day. Or, in a worst-case scenario, Dr. Weil might send some of his cronies to investigate.

It had been roughly a month since Zero had, with the aid of Harpuia, Leviathan, Fafnir, and his old friend, X, destroyed the reploid Omega, who was using Zero's original body. With X and Ciel's encouragement, Zero had come to accept that he, at least in mind and, as X would say, "spirit", was _the _Original Zero. The thought that he might be a fake no longer plagued his mind.

But one question still hung over Zero's shoulder: if his mind was the original thing, then how did Omega get into the original body? And for that matter, why wasn't Zero _in _his original body? What was Omega? These questions still lay heavily in Zero's mind, and led to some odd speculations on his part. Was Omega Zero's core programming? Was he the personality aspect of the Zero Virus?

Which led Zero to come and explore this ship. If Omega had really been sealed here for a century, perhaps it would hold some insight as to why Omega was in Zero's original body, and perhaps, in that, give some clues as to what circumstances had lead to Zero being transferred to a copy body.

The ship had yielded nothing. The computer banks were all blank and/or dead, and Zero had a feeling that the data had been wiped.

"Oh well," Zero mumble, "Maybe I'm never going to know what happened during my century of down time. But I can live with that. If any new info turns up, I'll look into it, but for now, I'm Zero, and that's all I need to know."

Zero emerged into the frozen wasteland where the Omega's prison had fallen, and was about to head off away from the ship before transferring back to base, when he saw a small, blue-haired reploid in plain clothes sitting in the snow several hundred meters away. The reploid held, from Zero's point of view, "her" knees close to her chest. Zero was briefly confused, but that quickly changed to concern as he saw a wolf-like mechaniloid slowly approaching the small reploid. Zero quickly recalled how vicious these things were, and was about to yell for the reploid to run, when the reploid reached out and patted the mechaniloid, scratching it behind the ears.

"What the hell?"

Zero was dumbfounded. What reploid in their right mind would sit in the middle of a perpetual blizzard, in jeans and a t-shirt, making friends with a violent mechaniloid? Then the pieces fell into place as Zero saw the reploid scoop up a ball of snow and freeze it solid. As Zero's list of possible identities for the reploid were quickly reduced to one, the reploid half-heartedly tossed the ice ball into the snow. The ball still soared a great distance due to the reploid's strength, even though the throw was only a weak flick of the wrist. The mechaniloid immediately turned and chased after it, trotting back to the reploid with the ice ball clutched in its jaws. The reploid took the ball and threw it again, appearing to sigh dejectedly.

Zero, meanwhile, could only think of one reploid who fit this description. The energy signatures didn't match, but if the reploid wasn't in combat mode, it was perfectly feasible that their signature could change. Just to be sure, Zero ran a mental simulation, superimposing the image of a slender, blue-armored reploid over the reploid Zero was observing. His analysis came back as a match: the reploid was none other than the General of Neo Arcadia's Meikai Army, Leviathan. He quickly ran through the basic facts about the sly Blue Lord; she was a former guardian of X, and later of his renegade copy; she was the only female general in Neo Arcadia's military; she was designed to operate in both deep-sea and sub-zero conditions; she had an obsession with combat rivaling that of "Fighting" Fafnir, deriving massive enjoyment from intense combat; and, most importantly, she focused most of this obsession on Zero, in an almost flirtatious manner.

Zero's response to this news consisted of two words: "Oh shit…"

Despite the truce formed between the resistance and The Generals of Neo Arcadia following the destruction of Omega, Zero still found himself the recipient of numerous challenges from both Leviathan and Fafnir, neither of whom seemed to have anything better to do than pick fights with him. Therefore, it seemed extremely likely to Zero that Leviathan was here to do just that.

But there were a few details that didn't add up. First, Leviathan was in what could only be described as civilian clothes: a simple pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, a long blue coat, and had her hair cropped relatively short except for a long ponytail which went down past her waist. Second, she didn't seem to be aware of Zero's presence. And finally, Zero noted as he observed the half-hearted way she threw the ball of ice, she seemed…unhappy. The final point made what should have been hilarious to watch almost tragic: he had never seen Leviathan anything other than happy or enraged. For her to be so… dejected… seemed impossible. Zero almost felt compelled to walk right up to her and ask what was wrong, but logic overrode this urge, and he turned, preparing to leave the Blue Lord to her own devices.

"Please don't leave, Zero."

Zero turned, reaching for his saber, as he felt slender fingers wrap around his wrist. He stopped, as he saw that it was Leviathan who stopped him. Her expression bore none of its usual fierce cockiness. She just looked sad.

"… Five seconds ago, you were no less than 300 meters away," Zero said flatly, with just a hint of confusion.

"…I guess I can be fast when I need to be…" Leviathan replied, equally flatly.

There was a long silence, as Leviathan continued to hold Zero's wrist.

"… You… aren't threatening me or waving your halberd in my face," Zero observed.

"… I guess I just don't feel like it," Leviathan said, her voice cracking slightly. This was nothing like the Leviathan Zero had fought so many times.

"_You_ don't feel like threatening me?" Zero didn't hide his shock this time.

Leviathan didn't answer. Instead, she slumped into a sitting position in the snow, releasing Zero's wrist and letting her arm fall by her side.

"…O-kay then," Zero said after another moment of uncomfortable silence, "I'm gonna go now-"

As he turned once again to leave, he felt a gentle tug on his index and middle fingers. He turned, half expecting to see Allouette clutching his hand. He knew it was going to be Leviathan, but that didn't do anything to suppress the shock when he actually _saw _her clutching his hand like a small child. Staring at him with a disturbingly uncharacteristic longing in her eyes, she tugged on his hand again. Zero stared at her for a moment, and then, sighing, sat down beside her in the snow, staring off into the distance with her.

"So, what's wrong?"

"…"

"Can I at least ask why you're here?"

"…Same reason you are. I needed some down time, so Harpuia gave me a bit of a vacation. He's out of it too, though. I guess he feels like he's failed to protect Neo Arcadia." The coldness of Leviathan's response sounded forced, as though she were hiding something.

"What do you mean?"

"… Things have gone bad since we destroyed Omega. Neo Arcadia has become divided. We managed to maintain control over a few small cities, but Weil has more or less taken over. We don't have any power any more. We can barely defend the territories we control, and Weil only leaves us alone because they aren't worth much." Leviathan paused before continuing. "Harpuia's trying to hold everything together, but he's pretty much powerless, and is really depressed about it. 'Failing X' and so forth. And Fafnir is just losing it because there's nothing to do, and nothing to blow up."

"Is that why you're so down?"

Leviathan shook her head, her azure locks swaying in the frigid wind.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Leviathan, but you're scaring the hell out of me right now."

Suddenly, Zero felt two palms pressed against his cheeks, as Leviathan pulled, nay, _yanked_ him into a desperate kiss. Zero's thoughts were immediately scrambled. Leviathan had always been a bit of a flirt toward him, but he had never expected to be _kissing_ her. Eventually, all of his thoughts resolved themselves into one: "What…the… fuck?"

Leviathan held her lips to Zero's for a long moment, before finally breaking the kiss. Still holding her palms to his cheeks, she stared at him, though he had a feeling she didn't even see _him_ at all, as though she was trying to find something. At last, she let go of Zero, turning back toward the snowstorm, and huddling her knees up. She sighed heavily, tears beginning to flow from her blue eyes. Zero continued to stare at her until his brain caught up with his body, and he was able to manage one word.

"Uh… Wow…"

"… I'm sorry," Leviathan answered, sniffling slightly.

Zero paused for a long moment before finally saying, "You don't have to apologize, Leviathan. I… would be a liar if I said that wasn't… enjoyable." It was true, too. Zero had always acknowledged that Leviathan was quite pretty, and actually had an amiable, if not a little unstable, personality. If it weren't for the fact that she was always trying to kill him, and had in the past killed several of his comrades, he might actually like her a bit. "Still, I'd probably have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so confused. That dish came with a big side order of 'what the fuck?'. So, on that note: What the fuck, Leviathan?"

"… I love you, Zero," Leviathan answered, almost inaudibly.

"… What?"

Leviathan turned and repeated her answer, almost bitterly, "I. Love. You. Zero."

"…" Zero was completely stunned. "… You… love me?"

Avoiding his gaze, Leviathan huddled herself up tighter, nodding her head. "I've been in love with you ever since you defeated me inside the Ice Temple."

"… And that's why you've tried to _kill_ me so many times?" Zero immediately regretted saying those words as harshly as he had, as Leviathan noticeably cringed as he said them. "… Sorry."

"… Zero… Look at me for a second. Think about who I am. People who look at me just for a second think I'm exactly like Fafnir: just a warrior obsessed with fighting. But we view fighting completely differently… To me, fighting is everything. To him, it's the only thing."

Leviathan nudged closer to Zero as she continued. "Fighting is tied to my emotions on the deepest possible level. When you first beat outside the hidden base, I thought I was just attracted to you because you were strong enough to defeat me. And every time you beat me, I was drawn more and more to you. I became obsessed with beating you."

Zero listened to Leviathan, entranced by her story. He couldn't think of anything to say.

"Then I fought Omega. In that very ship," she turned and pointed toward the old spacecraft, "he defeated Fafnir AND me. But, I felt nothing toward him, even though he beat me, and could have _killed _me. That's when I realized that only you make me… feel this way."

"Leviathan, that's… really touching, but-"

"Zero… I know what you're about to say. You're always on my mind, Zero, but my mind," Leviathan pointed grimly at her head, "is _not _candy and puppy dogs. I don't fantasize about you holding me. I don't dream about you kissing me. And I…" She paused, turning away and blushing slightly, "… I don't masturbate to thoughts of you fucking me…"

"… Too… much… information…" Zero groaned, cringing as the embarrassing, awkward, but not entirely unappealing image forced its way into his head.

"Sorry Zero… But that's my point. Those are the thoughts a _normal_ girl has about the guy she loves…"

In a desperate attempt to change the subject, Zero asked, "What thoughts do _you_ have then, if you aren't normal?"

Immediately, Leviathan's gold halberd was at Zero's throat. The shimmering blue plasma edge, however, remained deactivated. "You want to know what thoughts I have about you?" Leviathan looked at him, still blushing slightly. She smiled a bit, though her eyes were still sad, as she gazed out into the snowstorm. "I think about the two of us alone in a field of snow. There's nobody for miles. We're both at the top of our games. And we're fighting. We're fighting harder than we ever have before. The wind is cold, but we're fighting so furiously, it doesn't bother us. The snow is a blinding white, with a couple streaks of red from where our "blood" has been shed, but only a few drops, because we're never able to get in a clean blow. And we're simply fighting, without cause. No missions. No goals. No reason. We're fighting because we can. And the battle is to the death, but it never ends, because neither of us is willing to die. And finally, we can't fight any more, and we simply collapse together in the snow. And we're so close to overheating that the sub-zero temperatures are actually soothing. And the exhilaration, the joy, the passion of the battle is better than any sex can ever be." She sighed as she finished describing her deepest desire. "… Zero, _that _is the though the leads my mind away from my duties. _that _is the dream that lulls me to sleep every night. And… _that_… is the fantasy that makes me climax so hard that I squirt." Leviathan turned back to face Zero, halberd still at his throat. "That's… how I love you… Zero."

Zero simply sat there and stared at the beautiful, bright-eyed, crazed battle reploid pointing a halberd at his throat. Finally, he stood up, and drew his Z-Saber, the blade glowing a bright green.

Leviathan gazed at him, looked slowly around at the snowfield, then back at Zero, tears slowly welling up in her eyes. She engaged her battle armor, the azure armor encasing her civilian clothes. As the long fin on her helmet materialized around her ponytail, she wiped the tears from her eyes smiling. "… Thank you, Zero…" She spun her staff several times, the blade leaving a trail of blue plasma.

The two blades clashed.

The two of them were alone in that field of snow. There was nobody around for miles. They were both at the top of their games. And they fought. They fought harder than they ever had before. The wind was cold, but they fought so furiously, it didn't bother them. The snow was blinding white, with a few streaks of red from where their "blood" was shed, but only a few drops, because they were never able to land a clean blow. And they simply fought, without cause. There were no missions. There were no goals. There were no reasons. They fought because they could. And the battle was to the death, but it never ended, because neither of them was willing to die. And finally, they stood facing each other, both of them barely able to stand, covered in small cuts and bruises. With one final charge, they dashed past each other, landing their last strikes. And then they couldn't fight any more, and they simply collapsed in the snow. And they were so close to overheating that the sub-zero temperatures were actually soothing.

Zero lay there staring at the sky. He felt a long cut running along his right cheek, right under his eye. It was the wound he got from the last charge. He could barely move.

"… Zero?"

Zero looked to his right, and saw Leviathan looking back. They had both fallen backwards, so they were lying in opposite directions, their heads mere inches from one another.

"… Thank you so much…"

Her hand was sprawled out between them, pointing up at her head. Slowly, painfully, Zero moved his so it was facing up toward his head, and placed it upon hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Leviathan's eyes widened for a moment, then she closed them, smiling happily, and squeezed back. Zero saw that during the charge, he had inflicted an identical cut under her right eye. It bled a little, but still, Leviathan smiled, a deep flush on her face. As Zero gazed at her, he came to a sad, and even painful, realization.

"… Leviathan… I-"

"Zero… I know… I know you can never love me the way lovers do… They way you and Dr. Ciel love each other…"

"Leviathan…"

"It's okay… I told you… I can't love you that way either… And if you did love me that way… it wouldn't mean anything to me…" Pain slowly worked its way into her eyes ever so slightly as she spoke. "That's why I cried when I kissed you, Zero… Because I can never love you in normal way… and in the end… my version of love _will _kill one, or both of us…"

Zero nodded slowly. But then Leviathan said something that he _didn't_ see coming.

"… And I'm okay with that… when it's time for me to die… I think… if you… and only you… are the one who kills me…" she murmured, a small smile spreading across her lips, "… I think I could be happy… dying like that…"

Zero smiled back, sadly. "I don't want to kill you, Leviathan. I _never _wanted to kill you. But… If it makes you happy… I'll fight you… until one of us can't go on…"

She nodded. "Even if you can't love me as a lover… As long as you love me as a fighter… I think I'll be satisfied…" As she said this, her lips curled into the flirtatious smile Zero knew so well. "For the moment… That fight has certainly 'satisfied' me more than enough for one day…" Leviathan giggled her trademark giggle.

For the first time, Zero was glad to hear her in a good mood.

She leaned in and whispered, "Seriously Zero, my pussy's gonna be sore from all the climaxes that fight gave me. But don't worry. Once it's all better, my fingers are going to be spending some quality time with it. So thanks for the memory, Zero. You've given me something to finger-fuck myself to for a _long_ time…"

* * *

Yeah, Leviathan's state of mind and choice of word's changes a bit towards the end. What can I say? She's nuts. But she's still my favorite of The 4 Generals. 


End file.
